American Airlines: Flying with a baby post 9/11
Written: Dec 11 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: expanded room between rows in coach, changing tables in lavatories
Cons: individual airports which really isn't a problem with American Airlines
The Bottom Line: Based on the increased room between rows in coach, I'll choose American over other airlines.
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| jdhauer's Full Review: American Airlines |
Two weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, my husband and I (along with our 4 month old daughter) flew from Baltimore to Tucson with a stop in Dallas.
I've been a loyal USAirways traveler for years. Given a choice of carriers, I've always chosen USAirways. I had a USAirways Platinum Visa card (paid off in full each month). I still have enough frequent flier miles in my account for multiple upgrades or free trips. Yet, after finishing this trip, I chose to cancel the credit card and switch my allegiance over to American Airlines.
Sure, Bank of America screwed up on my credit card last month by inputting a $1743 check as $7743 which ended up with them taking an extra $6000 from my bank account. I would have canceled the card anyway.
And American services Tucson which USAirways doesn't. Flying into Tucson requires renting a car in Phoenix with the country's most exorbitant rental car taxes.
But, I was really impressed with the professionalism and the helpfulness of the American Airlines personnel we encountered during each leg of our trip. And, for the first time, a flight didn't end up with either my husband and I contorting ourselves in pain by the end of it!
We were instructed to arrive at BWI at least 2 hours ahead of time in order to check bags and get through security. We had a 7 am flight and we arrived at 4 am. The ticket counters don't open until 6. When we arrived, there were already over 150 people in line with the line snaking back behind the counters and down a long corridor. We didn't think we'd make our flight but a skycap pulled us out of line and checked our bags inside the terminal. We were told we could gate check our stroller inside the terminal.
At the gate, we were told that we were supposed to get a gate check slip when we checked our luggage. The gate agent cut us some slack, checked the stroller over very carefully and checked the stroller through to Tucson.
When we made our reservations, we purchased a seat (at a discount - half price fare but full price taxes and fees) for our daughter and brought her car seat on board with us. The flight attendants were very pleasant and asked us if we needed help in getting it installed correctly. Perhaps it was because the flight was mostly empty but the attendants were so nice to us!
The best part was when I needed to change a diaper and went back to the lavatory where I discovered a pull down changing table. I was dreading having to change a diaper in flight having heard horror stories about using the floor in the lavatory and the gross stories about people who change their babies on the tray tables at the seats. That's disgusting and I would never, ever do such a thing. My baby will stay in her wet diaper throughout an entire flight before I'd do that. Anyway, I was told that the changing tables are now standard equipment.
On this flight, the captain made an announcement that the overhead bins were not to be opened during flight for any reason whatsoever. Aside from that, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary except that my husband had enough room for his legs! He's 6'5 and fitting into coach seats can be a painful problem at times for him. We used to always request exit rows but that's not a possibility for us with the baby. The increased seat pitch was greatly appreciated.
Switching planes in Dallas was an adventure because we were dragging a baby, a diaper bag, a car seat, my purse and a small carry-on. We really wished that we had a stroller! Originally, we had chosen our flight because it was supposed to stop in Dallas and we'd continue on the same plane to Tucson. The plans were changed while we were airborne and we not only had to change planes, but terminals too. We found out that with the new security regulations, even if you are continuing onward on the same plane, each person is now required to disembark and take all of his belongings with him. That includes unhooking a car seat and then re-installing it when you return.
This flight was also nowhere near capacity. There were no announcements made about leaving the overhead bins alone. The flight attendants made a big fuss over our daughter who slept the entire flight (as well as the one before).
For our return flight, in Tucson, we checked our luggage at the curb but discovered that our daughter was not issued a boarding pass. There really wasn't a line at the counter so we went in and had that fixed in a jiffy. The agent also gave us a tag to gate check our stroller to Dallas so we'd have it at the airport there. We were told there would be no problem in getting another gate check.
This flight was near capacity, but again, it was comfortable and everything went smoothly. Our daughter slept yet again.
Arriving in Dallas was odd. Normally, the terminal there is blasting CNN but all of the monitors were turned off. We easily gate checked the stroller.
The only problem we had with this flight was that our daughter decided to throw up all over herself and it ran down the seat before I could get it all wiped up and it landed on a very nice man in a business suit sitting behind us. I was absolutely mortified. I gave him a container of baby wipes and offered to pay his dry cleaning bill multiple times but he refused the money and insisted he understood because he had kids of his own. I still feel horrible about it and I wish I knew what else I could have done.
In conclusion, I've flown American Airlines in the past but they never gave me enough reason to switch carriers before. I now have an AAdvantage card and enough miles for one trip to Hawaii. However, I need three tickets so I'll be flying them much more often!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jdhauer
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 in Kids & Family |
 - Top 200 |
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Location: Virginia
Reviews written: 700
Trusted by: 184 members
About Me:
How's that hopey changey thing working out for you?
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